Summary

Jurgis begins going to school to learn to read and write English. Jurgis also gets his naturalization papers and becomes a citizen. Soon after, Jurgis is paid to vote in the local elections.

Jurgis begins learning more and more about the way things work in the stockyards. There is a man called Mike Scully who owns most of the businesses outside of the packing houses and controls most of the local government. Even the packing house owners are fearful of Scully and work under his thumb. The packing houses themselves operate on the edge of legality, often stealing water from the city among other things. A man who crosses Scully or the packing houses bosses is a man who will never be able to provide for his family in the stockyards again. Jurgis learns more and more of the illegal and unsanitary practices...